Method of cleaning the bottoms of vessels



(No Model.)

W. PREEBORN. METHOD OF CLEANING THE BOTTOMS OF VESSELS.

Patented June 3, 1890.

mz "cums PETERS co PHOYO-LITHO, wAsHmm'oN, n, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM FREEBORN, OF TIVOLI, NEV YORK.

METHOD OF CLEANING THE BOTTOMS OF VESSELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 429,125, dated June 3, 1890.

Application filed January 3, 1888. Renewed July 26, 1888. Again renewed March 12, 1889. Serial No.327,885. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM FREEBORN, of Tivoli, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Methods of Cleaning the Bottoms of Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

A liberal use of crude petroleum or the light products thereof or other oil so applied as to cover the entire bottom and all the immersed portions of a vessel contributes greatly to fast sailing or fast moving by steam or sail, cleaning the bottom, and destroying the barnacles or other mollusks. I provide the Vessel with convenient means for introducing oil below the surface of the water. The oil spreads over the whole immersed area. The absence of affinity between water and oil makes such application highly effective. I introduce a temporary pipe leading down from above the Water to the proper depth alongside and under the vessel, with provisions for delivering the oil from the lower end into connecting perforated tubes, from which it will rise and spread upon the immersed surface of the vessel.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a general side elevation of the hull of a steamship provided with my invention. Fig. 2 is an amid-ship transverse section. Fig. 3 represents a portion on a still larger scale.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts mall the figures.

A is the hull of a sea-going screw vessel. I employ a force-pump B, operated by hand or by any suitable power, as a small steamengine. The pump receives its supply through a valve 0 from a tank 0. The tank may be conveniently filled through a pipe 0' from the upper deck.

I I are a series of ropes or chains extending across under the vessel and aiding to keep in place a perforated pipe J, of metal or other suitable material, extending longitudinally of the vessel below her keel. J is a flexible pipe leading therefrom to a point above the surface of the water, through which crude petroleum or the light products thereof may be supplied to issue from the perforations and be distributed under the bottom of the vessel.

This apparatus will be used when the vcssel is stationary either in port or at sea.

The apparatus may be introduced under either end and moved forward and aft, as required, to distribute the oil over the whole bottom. This application of the oil is intended more particularly for destroying barnacles; but it may be also of service in pre paring the bottom to induce less adhesion of the water immediately before going to sea.

The force-pump may be often dispensed with. Oil is lighter than water; but the difference in gravity is slight, and with the tank 0 elevated sufficiently the oil will have no difficulty in forcing out the Water which has previously filled the pipes and will flow out through the several small apertures b.

The bottom of the vessel should be previously made as smooth as practicable.

Modifications may be made without departing from the principle or sacrificing the advantages of the invention. I can increase or diminish the length of the longitudinal pipe J.

Any of the cheap fixedoils will serve for this invention; but I propose generally to use petroleum or the light products thereof. Crude petroleum is very cheap and Will serve efficiently all the uses of this invention. In case the bottom of the vessel is already foul before its use the petroleum will kill the attached barnacles and grasses, causing them to then be easily detached by the motion of the vessel through the water.

The oil-tank may be placed on the upper deck inst-cad of below it. Instead of a permanent tank, the oil may be fed from barrels or other receptacles temporarily connected with the pipe, as shown in Fig. 2.

It is practicable to supply the oil from a point below the water-line-as, for example, in the extreme bottom of a deep ship. In such case the force-pump worked by hand or by any suitable power is indispensable to supply the means for raising the oil from the tank time to discharge the necessary quantity and then shifted to another portion of the bottom, substantially as and for the purposes herein specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at New York city, this Qlth day of December, 1887, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WM. FREEBORN. Witnesses:

H. A. JoHNsToNE, M. F. BOYLE. 

